Tanker captain guilty of being drunk in charge

A tanker captain was fined after pleading guilty to being drunk in charge of the 13,776 dwt Quercianella carrying 11,000 tonnes of petroleum.

Sandro Carnemolla, 53 and from Sicily, was given a suspended four-month sentence and fined GBP1,000 (USD1,550) at Liverpool Crown Court. The United Kingdom court heard that Carnemolla had an exemplary record but had been drinking after ‘a stressful day’.

A pilot onboard the tanker while it was leaving Merseyside’s Eastham docks thought that the captain was drunk and called the police, who breathalysed and arrested Carnemolla.

Anthony Berry QC, defending, said that although there were two first officers on the bridge who could have manoeuvred the vessel, Carnemolla was guilty because he was officially in charge.

He added that the captain had his last drink more than two hours before the incident happened at the Queen Elizabeth II docks in Wirral.

As the third anniversary of the entry into force of the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC) approaches, Seafarers’ Rights International (SRI) is embarking on a comprehensive study on the effectiveness of the Convention. The study has been commissioned by the International Transport Workers’ Federation. It will be an in-depth and... Read more →